"Tony Zarb still has a lot to give to the union," the General Workers' Union's general secretary, Tony Zarb told a meeting yesterday.

Speaking to union members of the chemical workers' section, Mr Zarb said there were several people who were criticising him because of the GWU's stand on EU membership. But, he insisted, he had the delegates' mandate and will keep pushing "till the very end".

Mr Zarb said he was not bothered with the attacks against him. "It only shows we are bothering our adversaries," he said.

He criticised Xarabank presenter Peppi Azzopardi for pressing the union to publish its reports, arguing that Mr Azzopardi "was only responsible for a TV programme" while the union had 48,000 members to look after.

Mr Zarb said much was being said about the Lm81 million the government would be getting from the EU. "The government sold a big bank for over Lm70 million and workers got nothing from it. So don't expect much from these Lm81 million they are saying they will get," he said.